Close
by betawho
Summary: The Doctor's a bit confused about how he reacts to River. But confusion's not a bad thing...


He liked having her close.

He didn't know why, but he always felt more alive when she was invading his space, or when he was invading hers.

It wasn't just sexual attraction, although that was certainly there. And was a delightful surprise after so many centuries of a sort of general, vague interest.

But she, she had such vitality. Such vigor and thirst for life. She practically _zinged_. And she had those wonderfully lush, soft lips. The first time he felt them, he was instantly addicted. And it wasn't because of her lipstick either, it was all her. Warm, soft, strong, hitting nerve endings he'd forgotten he had.

And she flirted like mad. He hadn't had this much fun flirting with a woman in, well, ever! No, he lied, there was that one woman, a Shabogan from the undercity when he was a youth. No. He reconsidered. Not even then.

And she was just such a feast for the senses, that ivory skin, that explody hair that he just wanted to get lost in. And those sparkling eyes. Nobody's eyes could sparkle like River's. She was the very definition of a "twinkle in the eye." Although in her case it was more of a supernova.

There were times when her eyes could simply burn him up.

He wasn't shy. He _wasn't!_ Granted, he wasn't accustomed to women throwing themselves at him. That had been a bit of a shock the last few regenerations. Earth girls weren't easy, _they were damned terrifying._

But River. Damned if he didn't want to chase around after her like a demented puppy. It was demoralizing. He was over a thousand years old, give or take. It wasn't like he'd never seen an attractive woman before.

And half the time he wasn't sure if he was following her to strangle her or to kiss her. Probably strangle her. Well, more probably to tease her mercilessly like a schoolboy. She pulled that out of him, not that it was ever too far beneath the surface.

But she just made him want to _best _her in some way. She was just so flipping good at everything. Not that that was really surprising. He was accustomed to being around lots of highly accomplished Time Lords and Ladies.

Perhaps that was it, that was why he was having the urge to dip her pigtails in an inkwell. Not that he'd ever seen her in pigtails, or ever had inkwells in school. But, boy, if ever hair called out to be tipped in ink, it was those curls of hers. He'd almost had a hearts attack the first time he saw her with her hair down.

One minute she's wearing a sleek black Cleopatra wig, the next she's all dandeliony. He'd had the most maddening urge ever since to bury his hands in her hair. But he wasn't sure if he'd ever get them back. Almost worth it though.

To be honest, she brought out the most unlikely urges in him. She kept him running around in circles, even _he_ didn't know what he was going to do next. It was maddening, and invigorating.

He started flirting with her out of self defense. It hadn't been an entirely conscious decision. He'd been completely surprised when he'd started flirting with her in Florida. But the way she stared at him was completely intoxicating.

He couldn't _not _respond. Literally. He couldn't feel her eyes on him, all hot and turned on, and _not _respond. He'd started flirting almost instinctively. What he wanted to do was go bang his head on the cinderblock wall. Okay, not really, what he _wanted_ to do did involve the cinderblock wall, but Amy was standing right there, and they had a job to do, and Rory and Canton were likely to come out of the Tardis any second, and well, it's probably a good thing she wandered off when she did.

Fortunately, there was danger, and mystery, and a creepy warehouse to distract his attention. And people kept telling him that being easily distracted was a _bad _thing.

Ooh, but then, she said... He wasn't going to think about that. No, really, he wasn't going to think about that. Much. Not at all. Maybe. Sometimes. A little bit. _Really? _

Seems like not all spoilers were a bad thing. And now everyone was looking at him like he was an idiot. _He _wasn't the one who'd brought it up!

Humans were so parochial.

—

* * *

_For more stories by this author click on "betawho" at the top of the page._

_Please take a moment to leave a review. Thank you._


End file.
